A New Life, A New Death
by anime-samurai
Summary: The way season nine should start! WARNING:major shipperness


As the plane was going down, all I could think about was Mac's safety. Some people say, that when you are near death your life flashes before your eyes, well this was not the case with me, only certain parts of my life appeared. The first time I saw Mac, standing in that rose garden, she looked so much like Diane; I thought for sure that I was going crazy. That night on the dock, after Diane's killer had fallen in the water, I kissed Mac, afterwards she said that she knew I was kissing Diane.but for once, she was wrong. On the submarine, when I nearly lost her, even though we had been fighting, when it came down to the wire, we both realized how much we cared for each other. Christmas, when everyone else had left the room, Mac happened to notice that we were under the mistletoe, and of course.who can break a tradition? Then there was that night on the Admirals porch, I never wanted that kiss to end, it was my last attempt to try and make up for the events of the night on the ferry. All the danger, all the times I'd nearly lost her, to death, or other men. Then there were the events of the past day, Mac didn't know I was watching when she kissed Webb.it made my stomach turn, and it caused a severe pain in my heart and soul. I had nearly lost her again. Now, I had put her in another dangerous situation.  
The plane was losing altitude..the bottom of it was scraping against the treetops, it was going down fast. With a sickening crunch, the plane came to a sudden stop at the base of a large tree, if the plane were car.it would be totaled. All it was after the crash was a mangled piece of metal, with two people inside. The initial crash had caused only minor bumps and bruises, but the fuel tank had been punctured, and the engine was unstable.  
Mac was in the front, and was the worst off; she could not get out of the plane without help. I was in the back, I could get out. I could also smell the gasoline.I wasn't leaving Mac in that plane, it might explode at any moment. I hurriedly unbuckled my harness and climbed out of the plane. I ran up to where Mac was trapped in her seat, she was conscious, but it was obvious that she was in much pain. "Mac, can you move at all?" "I can move everything but my left ankle, it's trapped between the metal.I think it might be broken. Get out of here Harm, this plane could go up in flames any time now!" "No way in hell am I leaving you! Now let me get in where your ankle is, I'll try and give you enough slack to get your ankle out." "Harm, the metal is jagged, you'll cut your hands to pieces if you try and force it away." I took my shoes off and started to remove my socks "Harm, what are you doing?" "You'll see" I put my shoes back on and put both my socks on my right hand. I pulled myself up onto the plane, until I could reach down to where Mac's ankle was. I began to tug at the metal, but stopped immediately when Mac cried out in pain, it was then I noticed that some of the ragged metal was tearing into her skin. I reached my hand without the socks on it up to her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to comfort her. I again reached my hand down to her now swollen ankle, I began to pull the metal out of her leg, she winced, but said nothing. Once that was done, I noticed a small fire had started in the engine..it was growing larger, and getting nearer the gasoline.. As the fire grew nearer the gasoline, Harm continued trying to get Mac out of their crashed plane. "Harm, just leave! It's too late, there's no need in you dying for me!" "Mac, if you died and I continued to live I would be living in hell while I was still alive! I am NOT leaving you! That is final!" All the while they were arguing, Harm was working on bending the metal that trapped Mac's ankle. The fire was within inches of the gasoline, when Harm finally moved the ragged metal enough to allow Mac to free her ankle. Without hesitation, Harm lifted Mac into his arms and ran for both pf their lives. Never in his entire life had Harm run so fast, in a matter of seconds, the plane exploded.had he freed Macs ankle three seconds later, they would not have made it out of the blast radius of the plane. It was a close call..much too close to comfort.  
I had done it again, Mac was in and out of danger because of me, we had barely made it away from the plane.the good news was, we were both alright..the bad news, was that we had no supplies..we were stuck out here without food or water.we would have to look for it. I was so consumed in thought that I didn't realize that I was still holding Mac, but she didn't seem to mind. The remains of the plane were still smoldering, I carried Mac farther away from the wreckage, and I set her down, much to my own disappointment, under a huge tree. I was getting a little worried.Mac hadn't said anything since I'd gotten her out of the plane. I knelt down to see what was wrong  
  
As I knelt down, Mac looked up, the look in her eyes was one I had never seen before.it was a look of absolute fear. Despite all she's been through, all the danger she has been in, her eyes never held so much fear. "Mac..are you alright?" "Harm.you did it again..you risked your life to save me." "Mac, you would've done the same for me" The look in her eyes had changed.to one of disgust and anger.but it was not directed towards me. "Harm, I am a marine, and yet, it seems that you are always saving me, I should be able to take care of myself! I could do nothing to protect Webb, or fight back! I am not worthy of the title of United States Marine." "Mac, that's not true, stop that crazy talk right now! You're the best damn Marine I've ever met, I mean really, your much better looking, most of the time you don't have a personality like a bull dog, you make that awful Marine green look good!" "Is that a complement?" "No.just the truth" My objective had been to make Mac smile.mission: successful. Under the circumstances, a smile was quite something.but at least I made her forget reality for a few seconds. "Harm, we had better get going..we should at least try and find some water.those terrorists might be looking for us.we can't just sit around in one place." "Mac, at the moment, you are in no condition to travel, I'll take a look at your ankle, and then we'll go from there" I sat down next to Mac and lifted her pant leg to examine her now, cut, bleeding, and swollen ankle. I didn't even need to feel it, it was definitely broken. It seemed we were up the creek without a paddle.any supplies we had were destroyed in the explosion..no gauze..no bandages, I would have to improvise. I found a relatively straight stick.it looked durable, it was pretty hot in Paraguay, so I tore of my shirt sleeves, and made a makeshift splint on Mac's ankle. We will start traveling in the morning.now we should both get some much needed rest. My ankle hurt like hell, and the rest of me didn't feel much better. I've had some eventful days in my life.but this was too much. My heart still hadn't slowed down; it had been racing all day. Why is it that all the men I am around seem to be magnets for danger? Or maybe it's not them at all.maybe it's me. What Harm said that day about all of the men I have been involved with either being dead, or wishing they were, it hurt.but it held more than a little truth.Chris, Eddie, Dalton.they were all dead. Webb was dying; Harm could have very well been dead because of me. The worst part, the part that haunted me, was that there was absolutely NOTHING I could do about it. "Mac?! Mac?!?!" Harm waved his hand in front of Mac's face. "What?" "Mac, you look a little out of it, is there anything I can do?" "No..no I'm fine.I was just thinking." "Penny for your thoughts" "no.it's nothing" "Mac.don't start this, look, we need to talk anyway, we might as well start here and now.no interruptions here." "Harm..I thought you said that we should get some rest?" "Well, rest can wait, your more important. We have been putting off this talk for way too long, it seems that something always seems to get in our way, but not this time, no more putting it off, no more running away." "So you're telling me, that after all these years of running away from our relationship, or not being ready, you are finally going to talk with me about our relationship, for REAL this time?" "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying." "And just why should I believe you Flyboy?" "You should believe me, because I would never lie to the one and only person I love." I was shocked to the core.I had always known that Harm had feelings foe me.even loved me, but I had never imagined that he would actually come out and admit it so bluntly, something in him had changed. I wasn't sure what.but it was definitely for the better. The look in his eyes said it all, he was finally being honest with himself and me.  
I was starting to get worried.Mac hadn't said anything.all she did was stare at me. This was exactly what I had been afraid of.I was too late. "Mac.it's ok.I understand that you don't feel the same way, and." "Harm, HARM, slow down! I never said that I didn't love you." The look on his face was priceless.I only wish I had, had a camera. He looked like a child on Christmas morning. I was so wrapped up in thought, that his next action caught me completely off guard. In the instant that I let my guard down, he put his arms around me as best he could, even though he had been waiting 8 years, he was still careful not to hurt my ankle. Even though I had been kissed many times before, even a few times by Harm.that kiss felt like it was my first ever, I was left breathless, and in shock. "Mac.Sarah.I love you, and I am sorry that it took me so long to say it.I just hope I am not too late." "Harm.If I needed to.I would have waited forever. I love you too.more than you will ever know."  
"Juan! I think the plane went down somewhere around here!" "Keep looking! We will find those Americans, and make them pay for what they have done!" Harm and Mac were too caught up in the moment to notice the quickly but silently approaching terrorists. "Juan..there are no bodies, the Americans are still alive." "We will soon remedy that that." The two terrorists continued their search..meanwhile. Mac, two years ago you asked me why I had backed away in Sydney Harbor.now I can tell you. I was afraid, not of ruining our working relationship, but of you just being a one night stand, if I was going to be with you, I wanted it to be forever, in order to do that, one of us would have had to give up our career. Now, we don't have to worry about it.it's already done." "Harm, what are you saying?!" "I quit..I resigned commission." "WHAT?! WHY?! HOW?!" I requested leave to help you, the admiral, denied it, I kept pushing the issue, he said that I was not going to Paraguay as an officer in the United States Navy, so I resigned commission." "You were willing to give up being in the Navy.for me? Harm.I.I don't know what to say." "I would give up anything to be with you Sarah." Mac began to chuckle, this earned a raised eyebrow from Harm. "What's so funny?" "You called me Sarah.it just sound weird.I guess I am too used to you calling me Mac" "Well, you had better get used to me calling you Sarah.I can't go around calling my wife Mac" "Wife?" "Future wife.hopefully" With that Mac leaned in for another kiss, but before she was able to get there, she felt the cold metal barrel of the 9mm pistol pressed against her head Even though the day was warm, the gun barrel made my entire body feel like ice. An even worse feeling of dread came over me when I looked up, and saw that Harm had a gun to his head as well. "Do not move, Americans! If you do, you will die here and now!" The man holding the gun to Harms head motions towards me. "If you move, YOU do not die.she does. Now we wouldn't want that, would we? I don't know about you Juan, but I hate to see a grown man cry." "What will we do with them?" "Bring them back to the base! The man anyway..Juan! Take him back to the base now!" "But.but what about her?" "You never mind! It is none of your business!" With that, the man named Juan pulled Harm to his feet, gun still to his head. Juan looked back questioning orders, in that one moment, Harm struck. He hit Juan hard on the jaw, but before he could do anything else, the man holding me prisoner put me in a headlock, and pulled back the hammer of the gun, his hand on the trigger. "If you even look at me funny I will blow her brains out of her pretty head!" Harm froze; the look in his eyes was one of hatred, fear, and panic, all combined into one. I was feeling much the same way, I knew exactly what this man had planned for me, and so did Harm. Juan stood up straight and returned the gun to Harm's head.they started walking away. The other man was talking, but I wasn't hearing a word he said, my Marine training had kicked in, and I was waiting for my moment of opportunity. He let me out of the headlock, and put the gun into a holster at his hip. He could draw the gun in a split second.both he and I knew that. He held on to my shoulders roughly, as he leaned forward to kiss me.this was my moment of choice.it was now or never. I hit him in the stomach as hard as I could, and he doubled over in pain, before he could recover, I grabbed his gun, at just the time he looked up, I shot him five times in the chest at point blank range. The expression on his face was horrible.I had seen that look once before.When Harm and I were in the mountains, and the poachers were chasing us.the man had tried to rape me, using a knife to intimidate me.I killed him with his own knife. To this day, the image of him lying there dead, with that same look on his face.the look that told me that he knew he was going to die, haunted me. This was a case of deja vu that I never wanted to have to go through again, once was too much, and twice was horrific.  
I had heard five gunshots..Mac.she was all I could think about.she could be dead right now.that was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind.I had never been so scared in all my life. I was so wrapped up in my visions, that I tripped over a root and fell face first to the forest floor. "American! Your trickery will not work!" BANG BANG BANG. The sound of a 9mm pistol being fired echoed throughout the forest once again. I had been so focused on escaping the terrorist, that I had not noticed the pain in my ankle for a few minutes, but when my adrenaline went down, the pain was unbearable. I fell to the ground instantly. I was sitting there, thinking about Harm, and how I would help him, I obviously couldn't walk with a broken ankle.but I did have a gun, maybe if I fired a few shots Juan would come back, and I would be able to kill him.  
Bang, Bang, Bang. I heard the gunshots.three of them.Mac.I was lying face flat on the dirt of the forest floor, with a terrorist standing over me holding a gun.I could do nothing to save her.it was driving me to my breaking point, I couldn't take any more of it. I was pulled to my feet abruptly. "If you try anything else, I will kill you! Stay in front of me, and start walking!" Juan turned me back towards where we had come from, back towards Mac. Juan was worried about his partner, and had decided to go back and check things out. As we got closer to the clearing, anticipation built within me.I was not sure if I really wanted to see what had happened. We walked into the clearing; Juan was looking around, desperately trying to find his partner.I was searching for Mac. Juan spotted his partner.dead on the ground 50 feet away. He started to search the bushes for Mac. Bang! Juan fell dead, I looked, he had been shot directly in the forehead.Mac was alive, and well.  
"Harm! I'm over here!" He ran towards me, dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around me tightly, as though he was afraid that I wasn't really there. My plan had worked, we were both safe. The embrace seemed to last forever, I was in heaven.until I felt something wet on my shoulder.was Harm.crying? "Harm.it's alright, I'm fine, we are BOTH fine." "I know, but I was so close to losing you.again. I always put you in danger, it is my fault we are stranded here." "No Harm, it is my fault, I agreed to go on this mission, and I never should have left." "Mac, don't you dare blame yourself, if it weren't for you, we would both be dead right now!" "If it weren't for me, we never would have been in this situation in the first place." "Mac.Sarah, lets just drop it, we are both alive, that is all that matters" With that said, he let me out of the embrace enough to kiss me, for a moment, I forgot where we were, and who we were, and why we shouldn't be doing this.that moment was pure bliss. It reminded me of just how much I loved him, and how much I was willing to give up to have him. As we broke apart, we were both brought back to the cruelty of reality, it was getting dark, and colder, we had no shelter, food or water, and I had a broken ankle.. Isn't real life great. A broken ankle, without some sort of painkiller, was not pleasant, and it would greatly slow our progress, I could not walk on my own, I could hop, but that would not get me too far. "Mac, Mac!" "Hmmm, what is it?" "We've got to find some water, to clean that ankle of yours, and drinking water wouldn't hurt us any. I am going to carry you Mac, I'm not going to let you even try to walk on that ankle." "Harm, wouldn't it just be easier if you went alone?" "No, it would be hard to carry water all the way here, and what if I couldn't find the way back to you, and what if more terrorists came, and.and" "OK I get the picture!" Harm bent down and put one arm under my knees and the other one around my shoulders, he picked me up, and started walking in the direction opposite the one that the terrorists had come from. After about half a mile, he was starting to get tired, it was easy to tell. "Harm, why don't we rest?" "We have to find water" "Well, why don't you carry me over your shoulder, it would be easier for you that way." "It might be easier for me, but it wouldn't be very comfortable for you." "Why don't I just lean on your shoulder, and we'll walk that way?" "You could hurt your ankle even worse by doing that, I am going to carry you.but when we get back to the states, do me a favor, lay off the beltway burgers." I knew that I was going to get hit for that one, but I couldn't resist, anything to lighten the mood, and keep our hopes up. It was dark, but I was pretty sure I saw water through the trees. I started walking a little faster, almost desperate to get there, we finally made it down to the water, that was when I noticed the building, not 50 yards away, on the same side of the river that we were on. I heard a rough, booming voice. "STOP WHERE YOU ARE OR I'LL SHOOT!" There was a bright spotlight, shone directly at us, it was blinding, and it was a good thing Harm had a good hold on me. "Identify yourselves!" The voice sounded American, no Spanish accent. "Marine Lt. Colonel Sarah Mackenzie" "Harmon Rabb Junior" The man started fumbling around with a radio "Gunny, I've got two people here, a man and a woman, the woman claims to be a Marine, she also seems to be injured" I couldn't hear what was said over the radio, but the Marine, came towards us, accompanied by two others, they made Harm set me down, and they searched us both for weapons, they found the two 9mm's and confiscated them. They led us both into the Marine encampment, to the makeshift brig. "We are awaiting confirmation of your identities, ma'am, why don't you come with me, and we'll see what we can do for your ankle, it has been confirmed that you are the missing Marine, we were sent here to search for you when we heard the op. went bad. We don't have any information about him." The private led me to the infirmary; of course, limping there was just great. My ankle was throbbing, the pain was nearly unbearable, they gave me some painkiller, which was apparently very strong, and I didn't wake up until the next morning. "Mac, how do you feel?" "Like I've just been to hell and back, what did they give me?" "I have not a clue, they finally let me out of the brig, realized I wasn't a threat, I told them what happened, they got confirmation from Gunny, he is at a hospital, somewhere in the city." "Harm.is Cla.Webb alright?" "He is in critical condition, they aren't sure whether he is going to make it or not." The look on Mac's face was enough to make me want to cry, she cared for him, and because he was in danger, she was in pain. Just then a Gunnery Sergeant walked in "Ma'am, Sir, I have news about Mr. Webb, I am sorry, but he didn't make it. 


End file.
